


School of Hard Knocks

by likecrackingwater (1thetenfootlongscarf2)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 04:26:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5276585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1thetenfootlongscarf2/pseuds/likecrackingwater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's not in a movie. There are no heroes here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	School of Hard Knocks

When the Exodus ship crashed the world ended.

Finn flinched at the memory of it, the mounting panic that ripped control free to snap like a sail in an oncoming storm. After the disaster of the salvage mission Bellamy ordered the gates shut.

Raven found him sitting on the west earth bank, watching the trees.

"Looking out for something?" She asked.

"Not _for,_ just at." He said.

The guns had seemed fun when they first arrived. The Ark may hold the last memories of human history, but Finn remembered the Westerns best. He ate them up. Sometimes his dad would come home from work and they would curl up on the ratty mattress and watch  _A Fistful of Dollars_. His dad loved  _The Gunslinger_ , would talk for days about the man in black and the Dark Tower, but Finn never had the chance to read it. By the time he was in the Skybox he didn't want to. 

But, here? Here he felt like he was in a western. Except he wasn't Eastwood or Wayne. Nobody was. Clarke was cute and he blew his chances - but how could he have known about Raven? And what was he supposed to do if she never came? Be celibate the rest of his life? Never care about anyone again? She was never supposed to come. None of them were. 

Look at the Exodus ship. Just an ashy smear on the ground.

It wasn't fair.

Raven was shredding a leaf. It looked like a maple leaf. He was pretty sure anyway. 

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"I'm sorry the Grounder thing didn't work out," she picked up another leaf. She tore off the stem and tied it into a knot. 

"We'll have time to work things out."

"Yeah." She laughed, but is wasn't upset. It was a real laugh. That surprised him more than anything. 

"Yeah," he repeated.

When she stood up she dusted the seat of her pants. He might have looked. 

"Come to bed," she said as she began to walk away. "We can fix everything in the morning."

He followed her down.

* * *

Come morning he was watching with a few other boys as Clarke and Bellamy argued. Well, they were listening at least. 

Seemed the fearless leaders forgot the tent they mustered in wasn't sound-proof.

Bellamy always started out loudly. 

"I don't care what  _anyone_ told you. You're not going to... to barter your life for some clout."

"I'm not bartering my  _life_." Clarke wasn't as loud, but her voice carried. In a few minutes she'd be shouting and Bellamy would lapse into muteness. "I'm offering assistance to people who shouldn't be our enemies."

"You _heard_ her." Bellamy must have slapped the table. The sound cracked through the morning stillness. "The flares burned down  _two_ _villages_. We don't know how many people died. We don't have the luxury of  _trust_."

Clare's voice was rising. Finn knew that one of them would submit, and soon. It had been Bellamy more often. Something had changed after the three-twenty were spaced, but no one talked about it. No one really talked about anything here. 

"We need to do something or we'll be dead. If we hold our own, great but..." And suddenly her voice dropped.

Finn looked awkwardly at the guys next to him. He knew Tom vaguely from the Skybox, but Matt and Don were new. 

Don was poking a dead toad with a stick. They had been a novelty last week. They made some of the girls scream. Clarke put a stop to that right away.

"I don't need people getting hurt for stupid reasons." Then she put Dan and Wess on swab duty. Finn had only had to do it once. There was something unsettling about kneeling in the darkness of the dropshop, scraping brushes on the metal floors. 

The fact Clarke kept it clean make it almost unnatural compared to the rest of camp. 

Bellamy left the tent first.

He saw Don first. 

"You're on ground crew." He looked at Finn and Matt. "Get Tarah and meet me by the gate. Take two guns."

Then he was gone. Don swore and thew his stick. "Ground crew? Why the hell do we need to rake leaves, we live in a fucking for-"

"Are you complaining?" Clarke wasn't looking at them. She eyes were fixed on a book. 

"Na... No." Don scuffed the ground. "I'll..." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll..." then he was gone, darting between the tents. 

"Finn." Now she looked up. Her smile seemed honest. Genuine. "Can I talk to you for a minute? You can get ready." The last was directed at Matt. 

Matt nodded then spoke to Finn quickly. "I'll grab Tarah too. Don't be late."

Finn didn't watch him go.

"Have you been okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm been good."

"And Raven?" Finn was reminded of the Council. They sometimes did this. Asked empty questions before asking a favor. 

"She's good." He said. "We're... we're both good."

"I'm glad." Clarke wasn't looking at him, at anyone. Her eyes were fixed in the middle distance. Her face was suddenly blank. Finn jerked foward. Was something wrong - 

She blinked.

"I need to ask you something." Her voice was hissed, pitched like a snake rattle. "And I need you to swear that you won't tell anyone."

"I swear." Finn said. A small voice inside his ear whispered  _what have you agreed to? what terms, you fool?_

"I need you to take me to the Grounders."

It was like a kick in the chest. "What?"  _oh fuck, oh jeysus fuck what did he agree to?_

"We need to  _fix_ this." Her hand was on his arm. "We're not going anywhere, and neither are they. If we don't solve this..."

Finn swallowed. "They will."

She nodded, eyes hard. "We know what would be easiest for them. We need to convince them that we're  _useful_."

"What do we have besides you?" It was ill conceived at best, this have cooked plan.

Not half cooked - raw and still bleeding. It was rash and without aforethought. 

"When?" He asked. His heart was pounding in his chest. "When do we go?"

Clarke carefully closed the book. "I was thinking now."

The world rocked under his feet. "Wha-"

Her hand slipped down until their palms were flush, finger tangled. "Please Finn."

He was nodding now. "Okay, okay, sure."

"Thank you. I'll meet you behind the dropshop. Grab a pack. be there in five."

* * *

The area behind the ship was soft in shadows. Clarke scrambled up the dirt bank. Finn followed carefully. 

On the other side she dug up a blanket. There were a few jars of moonshine and nuts, a sewing kit re-purposed fro medical use, and some survival blankets. 

"Blankets and fire-water?" He joked. "Isn't that in bad taste?" 

Clarke pursed her lips. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Right." He ducked his head. "Right."

Clarke handed him the three of the jars. "Take these. I'll carry the rest."

Their packs weren't heavy so they made good time. Halfway to the neutral spot Octavia joined them. Her Grounder boytoy was nowhere to be seen but Finn dropped a hand to check the knife at his hip.

"They'll be here soon," was all she said. 

"Thanks." Clarke dropped her bag. Some of the jars clicked loudly. 

"So," Finn twisted. His back cracked loudly. "How is this supposed to work?"

"We'll just talk today." Clarke was playing with a bit of grass. "Tell they what we can offer."

Finn snorted. "Besides you, we don't have much."

"We have technology," Octavia offered. "And history."

"What good is history?"

Octavia fiddled with a twig. "We know about battles and tactics and thing like that. Survival."

"I think the Grounders are better at that," he was not being unkind, he thought. "Plus, who knows anything about battles?"

"Bellamy does." Clarke offered. She was watching some birds twist in the trees. It was quiet here. Peaceful.

Finn felt an ugly knock of jealously. Bellamy didn't know shit. He was older, that was all. And not that much older. And what good were old battles anyway? No tanks, no planes. Despite what he found, Finn hadn't see a box pistol, much less a machine gun. But he kept quiet.

He had done well enough at Earth Skills. 

They would be fine. 

 


End file.
